Grant Thornton hit with £3m fine for Vimto audit failures August 29, 2018 Accountancy firm Grant Thornton has been fined £3m for misconduct in the auditing of the owner of soft drink Vimto and the University of Salford. Regulator the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) fined Grant Thornton and four of its senior auditors for what it said were “widespread and serious inadequacies”. The fines relate to the audits of [...]
TfL welcomes Uber’s embrace of bikes over cars for future strategy August 27, 2018 Transport for London (TfL) has welcomed Uber's announcement that it will shift its focus from cars to electric bikes and scooters, saying it wants to encourage growth in a vital market for the capital. Electric bikes and scooters have become a boom market in London, with the city seeing a number of companies including Ofo and [...]
Pensions watchdog says Dominic Chappell knew BHS was insolvent when he bought it for £1 August 22, 2018 Dominic Chappell knew that BHS was insolvent when he bought it for just £1, the pensions watchdog has claimed. It follows fresh revelations in June that the retailer may not have been solvent in 2015, despite being signed off as a going concern by accountants. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has already fined PwC a record £10m [...]
KPMG hit with £2.1m fine for misconduct on Ted Baker audit August 20, 2018 KPMG has been fined £2.1m by the accountancy watchdog over its audit of fashion retailer Ted Baker. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has fined and “severely reprimanded” the accountancy giant following its admission of misconduct in relation to the audits between January 2013 and January 2014. Senior statutory auditor Michael Barradell has also been fined [...]
PwC slammed for ‘inadequate’ checks on BHS August 15, 2018 Auditing giant PwC has been slammed for multiple failings in its checks on BHS in the days before it was sold for a pound, only a year before the retailer collapse into administration. The firm carried out “inadequate” work on the business, with individuals being “too close to the management”, the Financial Reporting Council has [...]
Stocks care about policy, not personalities August 6, 2018 Chaos in the Trump White House! First, Gary Cohn resigned as Director of the National Economic Council. A couple days later, President Trump fired Foreign Minister Rex Tillerson. Then we saw Scott Pruitt also step down. Some claimed these losses would cause markets to lose confidence in the administration. Hogwash! These are examples of some [...]
Last Week in the City: Trade wars begin July 6, 2018 Garry White, chief investment commentator, looks at the market-moving events that have shaped the UK equity markets this week (2 to 6 July 2018). The World Cup is “distracting” for participants in global markets, according to Citigroup. "We find that football is indeed distracting, subtly impacting market depth, traded volumes and execution cost,” the US [...]
BCC and City of London urge government to come together and deliver on Brexit July 3, 2018 Pressure is building on Theresa May to bring her Cabinet together and sign off the UK's position on Brexit after divisions were laid bare again yesterday. Yesterday three ministers publicly slapped down Jacob Rees-Mogg for threatening to rebel if May did not stick to her existing positions of leaving the Single Market and customs union [...]
Bank of England’s Mark Carney adds voice to criticisms of EU for lack of movement on Brexit risks June 27, 2018 The City’s fightback against the EU’s Brexit warnings stepped up a gear today as Bank of England governor Mark Carney took to the field, warning that EU officials are not putting in sufficient effort to preserve financial stability post-Brexit. The EU has not matched commitments by the UK government to allow European firms to continue [...]
Draft Project Lord Turnbull Report: MPs call on Serious Fraud Office and National Crime Agency to investigate Lloyd’s-Hbos fraud further June 22, 2018 MPs are calling for an investigation into potential criminality regarding the handling by Lloyds Banking Group of a fraud at its Hbos Reading unit more than a decade ago and into the role of auditor KPMG. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking, which is chaired by Kevin Hollinrake MP, has urged the [...]